Dolphins Don't belong in Traveling Circus

As hard as it is to believe, dolphin traveling circuses are a big hit in Indonesia. There are three separate companies running these inhumane operations, much to the delight of the uninformed spectators who pay pennies each to see the dolphins perform.

There are 72 dolphins currently enslaved in Indonesia illegally, many of which are in captivity in these three traveling circuses. The following three separate companies still run traveling dolphin shows on the main Indonesian island of Java: WSI, Taman Safari Indonesia and Ancol.

These 72 bottlenose and stenella dolphins are kept in the most appalling of conditions to preform for audiences across island of Java. The animals are frequently hauled out of their plastic performing pools and loaded into the back of trucks along with other animals as the circuses move from town to town.

The transportation is so stressful for the animals that many of the dolphins die due to this stress and lack of proper care.

There is also evidence that all of the dolphins have all been caught illegally from the wild. Other animals kept in the circus are baby sunbears, small clawed otters, yellow crested cockatoos and an orangutan.

Ministry of ForestryDirector General of Forestry Protection and Nature Conservation

Ministry of ForestryMinister

President of IndonesiaThe Hon. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President

We write to you out of concern for the wellbeing of dolphins, a protected species both onworldwide level and in your country under the national biodiversity law Nr 5, 1990.

Indonesia is the last country in the world where dolphins are used in traveling circus shows.The show is legalized under the Minister regulation ‘Peraturan Menteri Kehutanan Nomor:P.52/Menhut-II.2006. The show is owned by a company named Wersut Seguni Indonesia(WSI) and uses, besides dolphins (Tursiops aduncus), Malayan sunbears (Helarctosmalayanus), cockatoos (Cacatua galerita) and otters (Aonyx cinerea). We have seriousconcerns about the welfare of these animals.

The show keeps 26 dolphins and has a permit for only 6, meaning that 20 dolphins are keptwithout any permit from the authorities and should be returned back in to the wild. Arranging apermit is a costly and long process possibly resulting in rejection, therefore the companyavoided this process by ordering dolphins from fishermen and taking them in as ‘rescues’, sothe local Forestry Department’ Office, in this case BKSDA Jawa Tengah, would providetemporary permits until rehabilitation and release would be posible.

The dolphins at WSI were harvested from the wild without permit and the forestry departmentrequested our help in August 2010 to rehabilitate these dolphins and return them back intothe wild, a very costly and intensive activity, needing expertise and a big financial injection.In October 2010 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the ForestryDepartment (KKH) and the Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN), a NGO founded in Jakarta.With international support a prestigious program was started to help protect, rehabilitate andrelease illegally kept captive dolphins. This MOU would also assist the Indonesian authoritieswith the protection of dolphins throughout Indonesia by education programs and workshops toend the illegal captures of dolphins as bait to catch sharks by foreign (mostly Chinese)vessels.

On March 10th 2011, the first captive dolphins should have been relocated to the rehabilitationfacilities yet without any clear reason, the Indonesian Forestry Department cancelled thewhole operation one-hour prior departure.

Since then the program has been on-hold and the Forestry Department keeps promising torelease the dolphins but avoids any clear written answers to why the dolphins were notrelocated last March and why the facilities for rehabilitation remain empty until present. Notjust all parties involved with the construction of the rehabilitation facilities in the Karimun JawaNational Park in the Java Sea now feel a big emotional and financial loss but also theIndonesian Forestry Department is again exposed as being an untrustable institution notconcerned about the protection of Indonesian Wildlife.

I sincerely urge you to uphold the MOU and to revoke the permits provided to the travel show.Thank you and I look forward to your favorable reply.